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Role of Religiosity in Psychological Well-Being Among Medical and Non-medical Students

Journal of Religion and Health volume 56, pages 1180–1190 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Religion has been generally considered as a protective factor for the psychological health of the people. As many studies have publicized a high prevalence of psychological morbidities among the medical students during their academic stages of medical schools, it is significant to investigate whether religiosity functions as a protective factor, to explore religiosity as a predictor of psychological well-being in a sample of medical students, and to compare the results of medical students as well as non-medical students with respect to religiosity and psychological well-being. The study is carried out in Federal Medical and Dental College and International Islamic University, Islamabad. The present study examined a sample of 120 medical students from Federal Medical and Dental College and 120 non-medical students from International Islamic University, Islamabad. Purposive sampling was used. The respondents completed religious orientation scale and scale of psychological well-being scale along with a demographic data sheet. In order to measure the study variables, linear regression and t test were used. The findings revealed that religiosity is a strong predictor of psychological well-being. Extrinsic and intrinsic religiosity predicts psychological well-being among the students. The results indicated a significant difference in psychological well-being between medical and non-medical students. No significant difference was found in religiosity of medical and non-medical students. The gender differences in religiosity and psychological well-being were found to be insignificant. The results emphasize that psychological well-being is prophesied by religiosity. The present research suggests further investigations and also endows with trends for psychological evaluation, development of religious beliefs, and interventions for augmenting psychological well-being among the medical students.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Federal Medical and Dental College, Chak Shehzad, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Shemaila Saleem

  2. Department of Psychology, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Tamkeen Saleem

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  1. Shemaila Saleem
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  2. Tamkeen Saleem
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Correspondence to Shemaila Saleem.

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Saleem, S., Saleem, T. Role of Religiosity in Psychological Well-Being Among Medical and Non-medical Students. J Relig Health 56, 1180–1190 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0341-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-016-0341-5

Keywords

  • Religiosity
  • Psychological well-being
  • Psychological
  • Medical student
  • Religion